The Chef'sChoice® Model 120 EdgeSelect® Sharpener is equipped with a manually activated diamond dressing pad that can be used if necessary to clean any accumulated food or sharp- ening debris off the surface of the polishing/stropping disks. We strongly urge you to clean your knives before sharpening them. You will find you can go months or even a year or more before you need to dress these disks. Only if you sense a distinct decrease in polishing efficiency will there by any need to use this convenient feature described further in a subsequent section.
Each sharpening stage is equipped with elastomeric guide springs that are positioned over the sharpening disks to provide a spring action that holds the face of your knife securely against precision guide planes in the right and left slots of that stage during sharpening.
Unless you have special blades designed to be sharpened primarily on one side of the edge (such as Japanese Kataba blades) you will want to sharpen equally in the right and left slots of each stage that you use. This will ensure that the facets on each side of the edge are of equal size and that the edge will cut straight at all times.
When sharpening in any stage the knife should, on sequential strokes, be pulled alternately through the left slot and the right slot of that stage. Generally only one pull in the left and one in the right slot will be adequate in each stage; occasionally you may need to make two pairs of pulls in a given stage (see subsequent sections for more detail). Always operate the sharpener from the front side. Hold the blade horizontal and level, slide it down between the plastic spring and the guide plane and pull it toward you at a uniform rate as it contacts the sharpening or stropping disks. You will be able to feel and hear the contact as it is made. Always keep the blade moving uniformly through each stage; do not stop your pull in mid stroke. Consistent pull speed of about 4 seconds per stroke for an eight (8) inch blade is recommended. The time can be less for shorter blades and more for longer blades.
Never operate the sharpener from the back side.
Use just enough downward pressure when sharpening to ensure uniform and consistent contact of the blade with the abrasive disks on each stroke. Additional pressure is unnecessary and will not speed the sharpening process. Avoid cutting into the plastic enclosure. Accidental cutting into the enclosure will not functionally impact operations of the sharpener or damage the edge.
Figure 1 (below) identifies each of the three stages as described further in the following sections.
Stage 1 Stage 2 | Stage 3 |
Spring |
|
On/Off
Switch
Handle 
Bolster
Heel
Edge
Tip
Figure 1. Model 120 EdgeSelect Diamond Hone® Sharpener. Figure 2. Typical kitchen knife.
5